Wanderlust
by Tayliexx
Summary: Sora has a group assignment for his art class. This pushes him and his group to explore the areas of the mainland they have never seen. Maybe everything he ever wanted was in his backyard all along. ONESHOT/SoKai


**Hey guys!**

 **Little oneshot here to keep some new fic's coming through :)**

 **Enjoy.**

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Hot sweltering air blew through the black slatted, vents as Sora angled the air conditioning towards himself. Brushing the palms of his hands down the thighs of his black slacks did nothing to relieve his hot, clammy hands. This was the closest his knees had ever been to his face as he contorted to fit in this claustrophobic space. Not to mention how hot it was because the windows in the backseat didn't go down.

 _Oh- and don't forget the driver is crazy._

A smoke screen of dry red dust billowed behind them as they skimmed along the lines of life and death making their turns around the sharp bends of the mountains of Destiny Islands. The inside of Selphie's car was terrifying. Especially with the owner at the wheel. So here he was- shut away in a small hot space, driving around the island for hours.

 _Why did I agree to this again?_

Suddenly a lock of _red_ hair whipped him across the face as Riku opened his window from the front passenger seat.

 _Oh yeah. That's why._ Sora thought to himself sarcastically as he removed Kairi's hair from his face. He was teamed up on, and has since sworn never to work with a group of females again. _I should have just gone with Tidus and Wakka.._

"Sorry!" Exclaimed the grinning girl as she attempted to restrain her tresses lashing around her.

He smiled at her in return. ' _At least there's a breeze now.'_

The two of them were crammed in the back of Selphie's car, next to the camera equipment, while Riku, who had volunteered as ' _Executive Assistant'_ for the younger trio's Art assignment, called shotgun. Apparently ' _Executive Assistant's'_ get window seats.

Ms Gainsborough had set a digital assignment for their end of term work. She wanted to push the drawer's and painters like Roxas and Namine out of their comfort zones, while also letting dunce's like Wakka to pass the year and finally graduate. Although, there were suspicions that Wakka had intentionally failed last year so that he could graduate with Sephie this year. Sora might not notice everything but he had noticed the flirting between two of his friends. The two boys Sora wished he was paired up with were making a collage board of action images of all the sports they liked. Simple. Easy.

The girls however, wanted to make a romantic music video. Sora couldn't think of anything worse. So after half an hour of threatening to transfer groups and leave the girls to do the project by themselves, they compromised on a travel and tourism video about the islands. They had named their project 'Wanderlust', But if the ' _Executive Assistant'_ didn't read the road map right they would be Wander _lost._

That's how Sora found himself squished in the back of Selphie's little two door, black rav4, jammed up against Kairi as the reflectors, costumes, and light stands took up the majority of the space around them.

 _Okay, so maybe it isn't all bad.._ He thought as they rounded a bend in the road, closing the distance between himself and the girl beside him. Kairi had placed her hand on his knee to steady herself from bumping into him.

Sora smirked, an idea struck him as she apologised once more, her other hand still occupied in holding back her mane of hair from hitting him in the face.

"Oh, that's okay. Two can play at that game." Kairi's lip twitched at this comment from him.

"...What game..?" She drew out cautiously, already knowing this would not end well for her. She hadn't won many of their old games since they hit puberty and his strength became more dominant than hers.

"This one!" He exclaimed as he dove his shoulder into her side and crushed her against the side of the car while they swerved around another of the mountain's bends. Laughter exploded between the two of them as they pushed each other in their game of 'corners'. Kairi released her hand from her hair and pushed herself with all her might away from the side of the car, thankfully due to a large bump in the road Sora was taken by surprise and she managed to swivel her legs around, placing her feet up against the car interior she used them as pushing power to gain the advantage in her next corner, using her back to pummel Sora into his side of the car.

"Alright Hulk, calm down." Sora chided as he wheezed with laughter after the hard impact knocked the wind out of him.

"Hulk smash!" She replied in the deepest voice she could muster.

After that the two of them were reduced to tears of laughter.

"Alright you two, quiet down back there, we're here." Riku said amusedly. He had apparently been observing the younger two, and the repeat of their childish games.

Sora and Kairi ended their playfight as they peered out the window of Selphie's little car, she had somehow gotten them to their destination alive after all. They had driven an hour away from the shore, and made their way up to the highest points of their home world. The Islands may have been all beaches and hot sand in the lower levels, but up here it might as well be a rainforest. Thick dense bush enveloped the now slick, black, tar sealed road into a nature tunnel, light peeking above through the branches that now encased them.

"Wow." They let out simultaneously.

"How have we never been up here before?" Marvelled Kairi, who turned her head to look out the back window as they passed a the first small clump of snow.

"Maybe it's because none of us had cars." The spiky haired teen quipped, poking his tongue out at the girl seated next to him. The two teens continued to gaze out of the windows as the world around them changed from a lush summer to a wet, icy winter. The green grassen sides of the black roads began to turn to white as they snow patches became less sparse, and white overpowered green. A large scandinavian styled building came into view through the slight fog.

"Alright crew! Jackets on! Get ready for the cold." Selphie exclaimed happily as she pulled into the carpark outside the large Mountain house. The area was a large flat clearing, edged by trees, large patches of grass were frosted over, and the picnic tables were home to small dripping icicles. The road they had driven up continued further up the mountain towards the ski fields. The ski fields however had a large red closed sign showing that they would not be open until further into the winter.

Sora and Kairi fumbled as they moved around each other to get to the seat belt buckles.

"Thanks" The auburn haired girl mused as Sora finished reaching over their seats into the boot of the car to grab her puffer jacket. Riku opened his door and exited, pulling his seat forward to let his friends out of the back.

"Looks pretty cosy back there I must say." He taunted towards his younger friends.

"Just a bit. The camera gear takes up a fair bit of room." Kairi responded as nonchalantly as she could while exiting the car. Sora swore he saw a red blush dusting her cheeks lightly as she tried to brush off Riku's dig at hers and Sora's proximity throughout the car ride.

 _It could just be from how warm the car is._ He thought while looking at the colour gracing her cheeks.

Their silver haired companion wasn't about to let things slide that easily. Riku rolled his eyes, "Oh, the geeeeearrr, Gotcha.. *cough*cough* FLIRTING* cough*cough*." he jeered.

 _Looks like it wasn't the temperature._ Sora noted as Kairi's cheeks flamed to the same colour as her strands of hair. She promptly pulled a knitted black beanie over her head and skipped over to Selphie who was testing out the class camera, adjusting the settings.

Sora scooted across the backseat and towards the passenger door.

He was not prepared for the cold that embraced him.

"What the hell!? This is an island. Why is it so damn cold?" He asked bewildered. His once sweating hands were now frozen over.

' _Temperamental island'_ he cursed internally.

Riku laughed, "It's called altitude Sora. The higher you go the colder it gets. You've seen the snow over the mountains in winter, and you see the snow around you now." Sora watched as each of his friends words were met with an exhale of fog like condensation, misting up the air. Riku pulled on his black gloves, rugging himself up against the low temperature. "Stop avoiding the subject anyway." He smirked.

Sora's eyes widened in question, "What subject." He squeaked before pulling on his second jacket and clearing his throat, his eyes staring down at his sneakers.

"You and Kairi."

"There is no me and Kairi-" Sora began to explain, he was cut short by a snowball to the face.

"I'm the ' _Executive Assistant'!_ I know stuff! Things!"

Sora grinned back at his friend, reaching down to grab a handful of snow, moulding it in his hand as he slowly made his way towards Riku, who was backing away slowly.

"Oh no you don't!" Sora shouted as he chased his friend, dodging, and jumping away from the pelts of Riku's attacks.

Two hours later and the four teens had found themselves well underway with their project, with the majority of the work done for the day. Selphie was positioning up the next pose for her two models, while instructing Riku where to hold the light reflector. The click of the camera's shutter was the only thing that could be heard, besides the slight chatter of Kairi's teeth as she shivered. They had walked up one of the mountain tracks which headed towards one of the hidden waterfalls.

"Alright, for this shot I need Sora to hug Kairi with the waterfall in the background. Sora- come stand here, between these two rocks." She pointed.

"Ew. Girl germs." Sora teased as he and Kairi made their way over to the spot that Selphie wanted. She only rolled her eyes at his attempt to tease her.

"Oh your boyish charm always fails to impress me Sora." Kairi chided, flashing some of her perfect pearly whites. He grinned back at her smile, Selphie hurried them along until Kairi faced Sora and he had wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"You're so short." He commented lightly, resting his chin atop the black beanie adorning her soft strands.

"You just noticed?"

"Well it's been awhile since we were this close."

Sora was glad her face was nuzzled into the crook of his neck and shoulder, otherwise she would have seen his blush. He was also glad that Selphie and Riku were a good distance away taking long distance images.

The soft hum of Kairi's voice reverberated in his chest, "Did ya miss me?"

He tried to form words, but the only thing he could find was a growing lump in his throat, his nervous gulp did nothing to repress it.

"I.. um.. Well.." He stammered slightly before regaining confidence, honesty was key after all, "Yeah, of course I did."

Kairi lifted her head from the warmth of Sora's chest. Her eyes meeting his kind cerulean gaze down at her. He saw her eyes shine brightly, as the cold nipped at the apples of her cheeks. A small flake of snow drifted down between them and landed off centre, on the tip of her nose. The two laughed, tilting their heads towards the sky, watching the sheets of snow fall from above. Sora looked back at Kairi in wonder, She was breathtaking.

He lifted his hands to dust the flakes from her face, but found his thumbs lingering. Caressing her cheekbones, his eyes meeting hers once more until the flakes falling from the sky formed into slight rain.

"You know- when two people can stare into eachothers eyes for more than 10 seconds they're in love!" Riku yelled, reminding his friends that they are not alone as he and Selphie watched from a distance.

Sora shook his head vigorously, removing the droplets from his spikes, splattering Kairi with fresh water in the process.

"Do you think she has enough shots of us for today?" Sora asked, grinning like a cheshire cat.

"I think so." The young woman chattered through her teeth, her lips tugging into a grin as the spits of rain grew heavier."Hey Selph! Sora and I are gonna head back to the car. We'll wait for you to finish up the landscapes." Kairi remarked to her friend.

"Yeah that's okay! We're pretty much finished at this location anyway." She said as she packed up the portrait gear, grabbing her camera once more and readjusting her settings for landscapes. Riku began to pack up his things and head towards his departing friends.

"Where do you think you're going Riku?" The young brunette girl deadpanned, throwing an umbrella in his direction.

"What?" He asked quizzically, examining the umbrella.

"You're staying." She replied, Sora and Kairi laughed in the background, holding their jackets above their heads as the rain grew harder.

"That's right Riku- ' _Executive Assistants'_ Hold umbrellas for their photographers." The younger boy chimed before running off to the car, leaving his best friend to finish off the project with Selphie.

Hand in hand he ran with Kairi, wiping the smirk clean off Riku's face.

Huddling for warmth, under a makeshift blanket of jackets they waited together, watching the rainfall.

 _Maybe the backseat being cosy wasn't so bad afterall._

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 _ **Thanks for Reading!**_

 **This was inspired by where I live.**

 **I'm on a beach, and I'm a half hour drive away from our mountain, it's winter here at the moment and I'm looking forward to driving up to play in the snow.**

 **If you have the time google images of Dawson's falls Taranaki**

 **That's the waterfall I based this off.**

 **The mountain house area was based off the Stratford Mountain house on mount Taranaki which is beautiful in winter.**

 **Anyway I'm sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors in this it was a quick write-up and edit. I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **If you liked this give it a 3 and you'll get more in the future! :)**

 **Until next time-**

 **Tayliexx**


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